Mineta
Exposed as Anti-Passenger Train Transportation Secretary!
According to this article out of West Virginia, DOT secretary
Mineta demanded that Amtrak gut its national trains.
The Sunset and Cardinal would have been the first trains
cancelled.
TELLING PARTS.....
"Mineta met with new Amtrak President/CEO David L. Gunn
about 10 days ago and offered the carrier a $100 million bridge
loan to cover operations through the end of August, said Karina
Van Veen, an Amtrak spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.
But Gunn, who is committed to saving the national Amtrak system
in its entirety, turned him down because the deal would have
required Amtrak to immediately begin dismantling its
long-distance network and concentrate services in corridors only.
Next, Mineta met with the Amtrak board of directors Monday to
make the same offer over Gunn’s head. The board also turned
him down. Gunn has made his position clear since assuming office
May 15 that Amtrak’s national system should be preserved,
not dismembered.
---
FULL STORY...
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2002/June/27/LNtop2.htm
HUNTINGTON -- Bush administration and Amtrak negotiators
announced "excellent progress" Wednesday night on
efforts to resolve a funding crisis threatening the nation’s
rail passenger system.
Earlier, leaks revealed that the immediate future of the
Cardinal, Amtrak’s run through Huntington, has been hanging
in the balance for the past several days.
"We are pleased to report excellent progress in intensive
conversations between the Department of Transportation and the
Amtrak Board of Directors aimed at resolving the short-term
financial crisis facing the railroad," said a joint
statement attributed to Secretary of Transportation Norman Y.
Mineta and Amtrak Board Chairman John Robert Smith.
"Tonight, the parties have reached an agreement in principle
on an approach to meet this important objective. Significant
details are still being finalized, and no final agreement has
been signed. We are confident that, with congressional support,
Amtrak services will not be disrupted," the statement
continued.
The proposed approach will involve a combination of immediate
financial assistance from the DOT and a joint
request by Amtrak and the Bush administration for congressional
support.
Mineta and Smith said they would brief members of Congress and
consult with congressional leaders today before
finalizing details of the accord. Congressional action then would
be needed following the July recess.
Officials knowledgeable about the deal said the loan guarantee
would bring Amtrak about $100 million, enough
to continue operating for several more weeks, according to the
Associated Press.
In the second part of the agreement, Amtrak and the
Transportation Department will jointly request action by
Congress, which has the power to order a second loan guarantee or
to appropriate money to the railroad, the
Associated Press reported.
Amtrak would much prefer an appropriation, which unlike a loan
does not have to be paid back.
Amtrak had asked the Transportation Department for a loan
guarantee to help it obtain $200 million it needs to
survive through September. The national passenger railway now
says that without the money, it will begin shutting down on July
4 or 5.
A key sticking point in the debate has been what to do about
Amtrak's long-distance trains, including the Chicago-Washington
Cardinal.
Mineta met with new Amtrak President/CEO David L. Gunn about 10
days ago and offered the carrier a $100
million bridge loan to cover operations through the end of
August, said Karina Van Veen, an Amtrak spokeswoman in
Washington, D.C.
But Gunn, who is committed to saving the national Amtrak system
in its entirety, turned him down because the
deal would have required Amtrak to immediately begin dismantling
its long-distance network and concentrate services in corridors
only.
Gene Poon, a travel agent with Sheehan’s Travel in Rohnert
Park, Calif., whose
specialty is Amtrak, told The Herald-Dispatch that he was told
the Cardinal was the
No. 2 train on the cut list, second only to the Los
Angeles-Orlando Sunset Limited.
"They would probably be the first to go," Poon said.
Next, Mineta met with the Amtrak board of directors
Monday to make the same offer over Gunn’s head. The board
also turned him down. Gunn
has made his position clear since assuming office May 15 that
Amtrak’s national
system should be preserved, not dismembered.
"You can depend on me to do everything possible to keep our
operations going; that’s my commitment to you," he told
his employees Monday morning. "I did not take this job to
shut down our railroad."
All this has made at least one local Amtrak passenger livid.
"It’s ridiculous that Congress, which immediately after
911 handed the airline industry $15 billion, hasn’t done a
thing to help Amtrak," says Kyle Fisher of Huntington, who
makes three or four cross-country train trips a year. "If I
can no longer travel by train, I can no longer be a dog show
judge, because I do not fly. Congress has no right to tell us
that we must fly or stay at home."
Meanwhile, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., continues fighting to
get the $205 million
Amtrak needs inserted into a pending supplemental appropriations
bill.
"If Amtrak closes, the nation's transportation system will
be thrown into chaos," he said Tuesday on the floor of the
Senate. "All of Amtrak's 68,000 daily riders will be without
service. Thousands of vacation passengers who have already paid
money for Amtrak tickets will be left at the station. Commuter
railroads from east to west will be completely shut down."
And, Byrd added, the problems go further than that.
"We also must consider the ramifications to the
nation’s economy if we allow Amtrakto file for
bankruptcy," he told his colleagues. "Immediately, more
than 20,000 Amtrak employees would lose their jobs. That's 20,000
families without paychecks and health care benefits. Thousands
more jobs at commuter lines, suppliers, and vendors would
be in jeopardy. I
"In the blink of an eye, the nation’s economy would be
dealt a devastating blow in states from coast to coast. With the
economy in a precarious state as it is, with the markets
fluctuating by the day, it makes no sense -- none! -- to allow
Amtrak to close."
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